Almost Ten Years
by Noelle Strife
Summary: It's almost ten years since she died. Even if all of them have moved on with life, they will never forget that very special day that made them remember life's greatest question.


_**Why does the main character have to die? *sigh* Poor Akihiko, poor Shinjiro-senpai...**_

_**Anyway, please enjoy.**_

_**Setting: Almost ten years after Minako's death**_

_**Note: Ken is 19 years old, (he's turning twenty by the next two weeks); Akihiko and the rest of the gang are nearly in their early thirties. Shinjiro is still finishing college because he always skips school and I bet he'll have to reset his senior years. Aigis is still at school (she wants to go to school)**_

_**Pairings: MinakoxShinjiro, Akihiko, and Ken-kun.**_

* * *

Almost Ten Years

By: Noelle Strife :)

_{Memento Mori: Remember you will die}_

_0~0~0_

"Ken, you seem to know the answer. What do you call the demoness in Japanese Mythology that is the first demon to go after Izanagi?" Mr. Ekoda stayed away from their topic and asked a young man in his teens as he lazily stared at him, thinking for the answer. He is busy flirting with the girls behind him who are giggling profusely.

"Well, Amada, what is it?" Mr. Ekoda pressed on as Ken scratched the back of his head and answered:

"Yomotsu-Shikome." He grinned as Mr. Ekoda huffed with an annoyed look on his face. "And I thought that question is hard enough for someone who is not listening in my class. Moving on..."

"Wow, Ken!" A girl behind him tapped his shoulder, trying to get his attention. "You're so, like, smart! Can you tutor me?" The girl giggled when Ken smiled at her. "Maybe sometime, babe. I remember I'm meeting up with some of my friends later."

"Aww...girl _friends_?" The giggly girl pouted. To Ken, this is getting a bit overrated. The bell rang signaling for after school. Ken placed on his bag and blew a kiss to his many fan girls. They all squealed energetically. As Ken walked down the hallway, his cell phone rang. He flipped it up while winking at a passing girl. The caller's name is glaring up at him in red letters: Akihiko Sanada.

"Yo, this is Ken."

"Ken, where the hell are you? Hurry up before my boss calls me up again." It seems that Akihiko is literally glaring while he's talking. Ken just laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming. Oh, um...Hold on a sec." Ken replied pushing his way to the school store and bought a snack. He feels hungry but this is not for him. Definitely not for him.

"Just hurry, I'm filling in Kurosawa's shift later on." Akihiko finally hanged up, seeing that he is already in front of the school gates.

_It's been a while since I stood in front of here again...It's been almost ten years now...I wonder what's happening with the others. Mitsuru is probably taking over the company, Takeba went back to Kyoto to live with her mom, Junpei, the idiot, transferred overseas because of his new work, Fuuka is practically famous for her cooking, Shinji's off to finish college, I'm in police force, obviously, Koromaru is old, for a dog, Ken's in highschool, Aigis is still at school since she doesn't want to be at the lab all the time (Mitsuru talked to the school principal about this and made him swear not to tell a soul and take it to the grave. I guess the principal already experienced Mitsuru's executions...) And-_

Akihiko stopped his thoughts as he continued to stare up at the school. It may be almost ten years, but he can still remember it. He still remembered everything.

Tartarus. Shadows. The Dark Hour. Nyx. Persona. The day that an old friend passed away...

It's like it was just yesterday. An hour ago. First it was his sister, Miki. Then Shinji fell into a coma. And then her...

"Minako..." Akihiko whispered to himself, oblivious to feel a tear slipping or see Ken watching him.

"Hey, senpai." Ken greeted him. Akihiko turned away from him, a frown etched on his face. "You know, what day it is today, right Ken?" The former boxer asked him. Ken turned away as well, knowing full well what is so special about this day. Even though Ken is already 19 (turning twenty by the next two weeks), he still have feelings for her. For that special girl he poured his heart out when he was just ten years old.

Minako Arisato.

Any guy would fall for someone like her. She touched the hearts of many, often changing their lives into something good. All of his friends missed her, SEES especially. She died to seal Nyx and save the world, even if no one knows about it. Minako died in Shinjiro's arms, and all of them thought she was just sleeping. But by the next morning, Yukari screamed, finding out that she isn't breathing anymore. Aigis ran some scans at her, and she too broke into tears. Ken still remembered it. Yukari and Fuuka sobbed hysterically, Aigis sat in a corner, saying, "I should have known..." all over again. Mitsuru hid her eyes as she called Officer Kurosawa and the medical team. Akihiko punched a wall repeatedly, screaming his demise. Koromaru whined beside Aigis. Junpei just cursed, his face wet with tears. But Ken will never forget what Shinjiro did. He was holding her close to him, his body shaking uncontrollably as he cried wet tears. Ken knew why. Minako is the first girl he had fallen for. And like Junpei, this will be the hardest one to get over with.

Akihiko and Ken stood in silence in front of a grave. They are in Tatsumi Memorial Park. It was a quiet afternoon. There are lots of flowers by the grave. All of them are from the SEES members. The expensive looking white roses are from Mitsuru, the Gerberas from Yukari, Poinsettias from Fuuka, Blue Tulips from Junpei, Yellow and White Lilies from Aigis and Koromaru, Akihiko even bought a Zinnia, which in flower language means, 'I miss you'. Minako's grave is by far, the most beautiful one in the area. The keepers even throw it out when it is already wilted, but they allowed it to stay there as long as they wanted. Ken kneeled in front of her grave, touching the headstone with the tip of his fingers. Every SEES member placed their own epitaph on the head stone and all of them are meaningful:

"_We will never forget you, no matter what happens." –Yukari Takeba_

"_This is never farewell; we will meet again in the next life."-Mitsuru Kirjo_

"_The purpose of one's life is to live up to its fullest."-Aigis_

"_We all have nothing but faith in your skills."-Junpei Iori_

"_We will remain strong to protect those who are precious to us, just like you did."-Akihiko Sanada_

"_We may be far away, but our hearts will bring us together again."-Fuuka Yamagishi_

"_Thank you for reminding the world how good it is to be young."-Ken Amada_

"_Always make good memories so that there's something you could look back on."-Shinjiro Aragaki_

It is not permitted to have many epitaphs, but Mitsuru have talked to the Morgue people about it, and allowed for the time being. Ken arranged the flowers nicely around the grave, so that it doesn't have to be gloomy. He placed Akihiko's Zinnia in the front and stood up to admire it. Something seems missing though.

"Shinjiro-senpai didn't give any flowers." He noted as Akihiko nodded. "Knowing Shinji, he's probably watching us, waiting for us to leave so that he could give his." He said. Ken just smiled. Shinjiro-senpai still likes to be alone and Akihiko-senpai is right. He opened up his bag and took the snack he bought from the school store. It was Minako's favorite snack, Melon Bread. Akihiko chuckled.

"I'm never really fond of those things. I'll try some later when I get to the convenience store." Ken placed the Melon Bread on top of the headstone. The grave is nearly complete. He stood up and smiled at it.

"Happy Birthday, Minako-san." Ken said, wiping a tear from his eyes. Akihiko just nodded, greeting her as well. They stood there for a matter of minutes when they decided that it's time to leave. Ken brushed the headstone one more time and followed Akihiko towards the entrance of the park. When they reached the entrance, they turned around one more time to see a figure clad in maroon walk up towards her grave. The two just smirked; they knew Shinji well enough already.

* * *

"...Hey." Shinjiro muttered. He opened his coat and placed a sunflower next to Aki's Zinnia. Minako told him Sunflowers are her favorite. He knew Aki and Ken are watching him now, but he doesn't care at all.

"_Thank you for the sunflower, Shinji..."_ A faint voice echoed at Shinjiro's mind. He smiled a bit before saying, "You're welcome, Minako."

"_I...love you..."_

"Love you too."

_{Memento Mori: Remember you will die.}_**  
**

_{Memor erit in sempiternum vivent corda: Remember you will live forever in our hearts}_

**End.**


End file.
